Missing Family
by AFANOFMANY
Summary: (Note to anyone who has already read Part 2 I made a change to the dates the letters were written) Just when the Charmed One's thought their lives couldn't get any more complicated, a vision of a long lost family member sends the girls in a race against time to find a young girl before she gives up on life.
1. Before you read

I wrote this story many ago under a different name, recently I got the stories stuck in my head, not sure why and after reading them again realized they were not the way I wanted them, so I got to work on fixing them. I no longer have the passwords or email account associated with my old pen name LPOOL, so I created a new account in order to repost my stories.

The Story you are about to read is set during the shows second season  
Before they even knew Paige existed (doesn't mean she won't show up)  
Before Piper got married and started to have children of her own  
Before Phoebe hooked up with Cole  
Before Prue moved on to another life.

THIS IS AN ORIGINAL STORY BASED ON THE TELEVISION SERIES CHARMED. ALL CARACTERS BELONG TO CONSTANCE BURGE, SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT, THE WARNER BROTHERS NETWORK, AND PARAMOUNT PICTURES, UNLESS OTHERWISE br /STATED BY THE AUTHOR.

Please read and enjoy. Leave comment if you like what you read, I take all comment with a grain of salt so feel free to be honest, the worst that will happen is I stop writing for others, and only write for myself.


	2. Part 1

On a normal July night in L.A. a young girl lies in her bed wide awake listening to the sounds of music and laughter going on just outside her window. She reaches under her pillow and pulls out a ragged looking doll.

She looks at the doll and sighs. Even with it's leg almost falling off, all it's hair missing, and several of it's long eye lashes gone all she can see is the beautiful doll she received so many years ago. To her is was still shinny and new.

A gift from a grandmother she never had a chance to meet, she can't remember a time when she was without the doll. It was her best friend, a consistent companion, someone special who would never let her down, and she could always trust to keep her secrets. She lays the doll down beside her and it's eyes close on their own. She wishes it would work as easily for her.

"Penny can you help me forget" she whispered in the small dolls ear. She closed her own eyes and hugged the doll tight as she tried her best to forget about the unspeakable day she had.

Meanwhile 383 miles away in San Fransisco everything seemed quiet and normal in the Halliwell household. Prue, and her sister Piper, were sleeping peacefully in their beds dreaming of happy times. Unbeknownst to them their youngest sister, Phoebe, was tossing and turning, and talking in her sleep.

Without warning Phoebe awoke from her restless sleep with the feeling in her head that she just had a premonition, one that made no sense. She sat there for a moment scratching her head, trying to remember what woke her up so quickly.

She took a sip of water from the glass that was sitting next to her bed and sighed. Deciding that it could not have been anything important she picked her blanket up off the floor and laid her head back on her pillow ready to go back to sleep. Her eyes were not even closed for a full minute when she bolted upright.

"THE ATTIC!"

She said aloud to no one throwing her blanket back onto the floor and jumping out of the bed. Not even bothering to put on her slippers or bathrobe, she flung open her bedroom door and ran straight up the attic stairs.

Just next door Piper, who was always a light sleeper, woke with a jump when she heard feet running past her door. Glancing at the clock, she realized it was almost 5:00 in the morning, and fearing something might be wrong she hopped out of bed grabbing her bathrobe that was hanging off the end of her bed.

As she closed her bedroom door, she looked along the hall and saw no one. She noticed that her older sister Prue's door was still closed tight, but that baby sisters door was wide open. Walking over to the bathroom she gently knocked on the door and whispered her name.

"Phoebe you in here?"

She asked as she slowly opened the door only stopping when she noticed the light was off and the bathroom was completely dark. Closing the door she turned around and was about to head downstairs when she noticed the attic light was on. Letting out a small grown she made her way up the stairs dreading it more and more with every step she took.

As she approached the top of the stairs, she paused for a moment and listened. She could clearly hear things being thrown on the floor, furniture being pushed around and someone speaking in a muffled tone.

She made her way up the final few steps and raised her hands preparing to freeze anything in her sight. Entering the room slowly, she began to scanned the room with her eyes not really knowing what to expect. She looked to the left and then to the right and saw nobody. She took a deep breath and tried to remain calm, but she had learned that sometimes the most dangerous things can't be seen. Almost tripping as she moved around a pushed dresser, she found the strangest thing.

"Phoebe? What the Hell? What are you doing?"

Back downstairs Prue opened her eyes slowing and perked up her ears. Hearing the loud voices and thumping on the ceiling, sounded like someone was pounding on her head. Prue climbed out of bed, put her slippers on her feet and snatched her bathrobe off the bottom of the bed.

"This better be good!"

She mumbled to herself as she tied a knot in her bathrobe strings and made her way out of her bedroom. Walking up the attic stairs she was ready to kill the first person she saw for waking her so early on her first day off in weeks. She stubbed her toe when she bumped into a dresser that was in the door way and as she pushed it out of her way she spoke in a stern loud voice.

"Alright, who put this here?"

Not getting an answer she stepped around the dresser and looked around the room.

"Would someone please tell me what is going on up here? It's 5:00 in the morning, and for once, I can sleep in and…"

Stopping mid-sentence she noticed that Piper wasn't even looking at her. She followed Piper's fixed stare, and hung her mouth open with complete shock. She took a moment trying to think of what to say but couldn't really come up with anything except.

"Phoebe what are you doing?"

Prue watched as Phoebe crawled on her hands and knees, running her hands along the wall talking to herself. Even after calling her name several times Phoebe refused to turn her attention away from the wall and even worst, didn't seem to notice anyone else was in the room. Prue turned around and faced Piper.

"Piper what's going on? What is Phoebe doing?"

"I don't know, I asked her several times. She wouldn't answer me either. It's like she in some sort of trance, that or she's lost her mind. All she keeps saying is look in the walls look in the walls. She won't say anything else."

Prue wasn't going to settle for that she wanted to get to the bottom of this fast. Turning back around, she took a deep breath and walked right over to Phoebe. Bending down she grabbed Phoebe's hands, forcing her to look straight into Prue's eyes.

"Phoebe, pull yourself together! Tell us what's wrong."

Still not getting a response, Prue was getting frustrated. She could see both confusion and fear in Phoebe's eyes. Not knowing want else to do, Prue softened her voice and pushed a stray hair out of Phoebe's eyes.

"Pheebs, just relax and tell us what your doing. Maybe we can help."

Phoebe, looked up at Piper as if to say, 'HELP ME'. Growing up Piper had seen this look in her baby sister's eye's many times. She knew that this was a look of desperation. Bending down she sat on the floor right next to Prue, and put her hand on Phoebe shoulder trying her best to reassure Phoebe that she was safe, and it was alright to explain.

"Phoebe everything's alright, we want to help you, but we can't if you don't tell us what's going on. Talk to us please."

Phoebe looked from Piper to Prue, and then back to Piper. She could tell she was worrying Prue, and scaring Piper. This was not her intention but her mind was caught in a moment and she was having trouble coming up with words to explain. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a second trying to get her brain to stop running so she could form a full real thought.

"Just take your time and start from the beginning."

Piper said trying to give her sister the support and encouragement she needed to explain what was going on.

"I was sound asleep having a wonderful dream about Owen, we were walking on the beach and just talking, and laughing and kissing."

She started to explain and after mentioning Owens name she couldn't help but smile.

"Then litterly in a blink of an eye I was in the attic. Someone took me by the hand and was leading me around the walls. She just kept saying look inside to find the answer."

"Someone? You don't know who?"

"No I never saw her face. By the voice I could tell it was a woman. I feel like I should know who she was, her voice was so familiar. It sort of felt like a premonition, which means there is something up here, and I have to find it."

"Do you have to find it now? I mean, I just got to sleep three hours ago; the club was really busy last night. If you let us get a few more hours of sleep, I promise to help."

"Do you really think I can go back to sleep without knowing what this is all about?"

"Fine, then we will help you. The sooner we find it, the sooner we can all go back to sleep."

Prue said in her best no nonsense voice knowing full well that Piper was about to argue.

While Phoebe went back to her searching Piper pulled Prue to the side.

"Prue she probably just had a nightmare, do we really have to do this now?"

"Listen I don't know what this is about, but you know she won't give up without us all trying. I want to get back to sleep as much as you do, so let's help her and hope she gives up fast."

Piper would have argued but she knew Prue was right, and she knew that Prue wanted to get back to some well deserved, and much need sleep, instead she gave in and aided with the search.

They spread out around the attic, moving every piece of furniture they could. They each began tapping on the walls and floor boards throughout the entire attic, none of them really sure as to what they were looking for. Minute by minute they were each growing more and more exhausted, and after almost 2 hours, Piper threw her hands up in the air.

"Alright I give up. I surrender. What ever was in your dream obviously isn't here now. We have looked everywhere. Can't we just get some sleep? We can look again when we can actually keep our eyes open."

"No. You guys can give up if you want to. I know there is something here. I don't care if it takes all day and the next to find it. I'm not giving up!"

Phoebe was more frustrated than any of them. She knew that this was some kind of premonition, and she never ignored her visions. Leaning against the wall, she ran her hands through her sweaty hair.

"We just have to…HUH….."

Prue and Piper both jumped knowing the look on their sister's face, they knew that now they had to wait for Phoebe to come out of her premonition.

In Phoebe's minds eye she could see her Grams walking over to the window, and pausing. She could see Grams put her hand on the wall just beneath the window and pulling at a loose brick. Pulling something from her pocket she carefully placed the item inside, replaced the brick, stood up and walked out the attic.

Coming out of her vision Phoebe opened her eye's, turned and stared at the window.

"What did you see?"

Was all Phoebe heard as she walked over to the window. Without a word, she bent down and began to run her hands along the bricks. Stopping she noticed a brick that wasn't really cemented into place. Slowly she removed the brick and then looked at her sisters before reaching her hand into the hole.

"You know that might not be a good idea Pheebs. There could be things in there."

"Things Piper really..."

"Come on Prue you know what I mean. Things that tend to eat cheese, and tend to live and die in the walls."

Piper said backing away with a very squeamish look on her face as she pictured Phoebe pulling a dead mouse out of the wall, or even worse, a live one. Once again receiving a look from Prue that said "this is not the time", they both turned their attention back to Phoebe, who wasn't even paying attention to what Piper had just said. Phoebe eased her hand out of the wall and examined what she had found.

"What are they?"

"They're letters addressed to Grams."

"You mean we had to get out of bed to find some old love letters?"

"I don't know there's no return address. Just a name, Paul Halliwell."

"Paul? Who's Paul?"

"Grandpa?"

"No his name was Allen I think. We don't know any Paul, do we?"

Phoebe wasn't really paying attention to her sisters conversation, she was relieved that all their searching paid off, but she was still more confused than ever. Prue could see that Phoebe's mind was still racing, as she tried to figure out more of what's going on.

"Listen, we're all pretty awake now. Why don't we head downstairs and have some coffee. We can look over the letters while we have some breakfast."

Piper once again was about to voice her opinion, but she too saw how much her baby sister still needed their help. Helping Phoebe to stand up, she lead the way down the stairs knowing full well, there was no way she could get to sleep, even if she tried. Prue took one last look around the attic. They had really made a mess, vowing to make sure they cleaned it up later, she closed the attic door, and followed her sisters down the stairs.


	3. Part 2

When Prue arrived in the kitchen, she saw that Piper was already in the process of turning on the stove. Prue made her way over to the counter, stopping for a moment she turn on the coffee pot. She opened the cabinet door and pulled out three coffee mugs setting them on the counter.

"So?"

"So what?"

Phoebe said while holding her head in her hands as she rubbed the sleep out of the corner of her eyes. She could feel the dust that filled her hair, and cloths. She felt absolutely gross.

"Read the letters you had to find so badly. I want to know what was so important that we had to be up at 5:00 in the morning."

Prue was quick to agree with Piper as she began to pour the coffee into the mugs. Setting them on the table she watched as Phoebe lifted her head as if she was clearing her mind.

"Oh right. Ok, here's the first one. Dear Mom, I…"

"Wait Mom? I thought you said the return address was Paul, not Patty Halliwell."

"Piper I can read. Take a look for yourself."

Phoebe handed Piper the envelope as Piper made her way over to the table with a plate in hand. Putting the plate down she took the envelope from Phoebe, and examined the names on the front of the envelope.

"Maybe it was just someone who liked to call Grams Mom. Maybe they grew up with Mom. I mean we used to call Andy's Mom, Mom all the time. Andy called Grams, Grams. We won't know if you don't stop interrupting me."

"Yea, right. Someone who grew up with Mom, and just happens to have the same last name as us…."

Piper threw the envelope back on the table, sat down, picked up her coffee and began to pour in some cream. Looking up at her sisters, she could see Phoebe rolling her eyes at Pipers rambling, and Prue giving her a stern look for the third time that morning.

"Prue I'm sick of the looks."

"Fine then I'll just say it, Shut Up!"

"Fine read on, but this better be good."

"Thank you so much."

Phoebe took a second to take a bite of her scrambled eggs, and a sip of her coffee, before re-picking up the letter. Clearing her throat she began to read the letter aloud to her sisters.

 **Dear Mom,**

 **I know it's been a long time since you have heard from me. I don't know if you even want to, I wouldn't blame you. I know that I not only walked out of your life, but also put myself into a situation that was against everything you tried to teach me and Patty?**

 **Several weeks ago, a young woman came into the group, and it was love at first sight. I met her and just knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, but she was advancing so fast that I became afraid that I would lose her forever. If that is how I made you feel, I am so very sorry.**

 **I needed to let you know that I have seen the error of my ways. I now understand what you were trying to warn me about., and why you blocked me from entering your mind. I now understand what you were trying to warn me about.**

 **We walked out together two days ago, and it's going to be difficult for a while. We will have to be on the move a lot to make sure they don't follow us. Right now, we are safe. I also needed you to know that I never gave them any information about you or Patty. I never wanted the dangers that I have put on myself to affect you guys.**

 **The love of my life's name is Sarah, and I hope some day soon we will be married. I know it may seem fast, but as I said it was love at first sight.**

 **Well I have to go, time is running out, and we have to move on. I wish I could hear from you, but since I don't know where we are going right now, I know that is not possible. I know that you might try to find me, but for now please don't. I will write again soon, and once we can settle down for a while, if you want, you can write to me. I don't expect anything.**

 **Love Always Your Loving Son,**  
 **Paul**

 **P.S.**  
 **Kiss Patty for me, and tell her that her big brother had never forgotten about her, and will always love her.**

The room was filled with silence as each of the girls absorbed the information that was given to them. Each girl thought about something different, none of them knowing how to put their thoughts into words.

Prue was simply confused, Phoebe was just shocked, while Piper became angry. Piper couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer. With anger in her eyes and a touch of harshness in her voice, she decided to speak what was on her mind.

"How could she not tell us? Why wouldn't she tell us? I mean this had to be years ago right. When was it dated?"

Not even waiting for a response Piper picked the envelope up again the postage stamp date.

"1980. Mom was already gone, and I know we were all still young, but she could have at least told you Prue. You were the oldest and she always talked to you about everything. Why didn't she?"

As Piper spoke both she and Phoebe were starting to become emotional. Seeing the tears in her sister's eyes was breaking Prue's heart. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was watching either one of her sisters cry. Even when they were younger, if her sisters were hurt, or upset, she would do everything in her power to make the pain go away. Her motherly instincts kicked in, as she tried to console her sisters.

"Piper you need to calm down. Maybe she couldn't tell us. Why are you getting so angry?"

"Why? Are you serious? I'm so sick and tired to all the secrets in this family. Will they never end. It's bad enough we didn't know we were witches, but now we find out we have more family. We really could have used that information a long time ago, like when Mom died, and dad left."

"Piper, think about it. If she had told us about him, we would have wanted to know why he left. We didn't know anything about us being witches and she wasn't about to tell us then."

"Then why tell us about him now?"

"I don't know, but the rest of these letters will probably give us the answers."

Prue looked over at Phoebe. While she was being completely silent her eyes were telling another story. Phoebe was allowing the exhaustion that was building inside her to show, but she could also see that Phoebe was fighting the need to sleep.

"Tired Pheebs."

"A little. I just don't know if I can think anymore. I think I should try and get some more sleep, but I'm not so sure if I can."

"I think we could all use some rest, why don't we finish this wonderful breakfast that Piper cooked, and then get some sleep. We don't have to figure this out right now. We have time."

They all agreed and one by one finished their breakfast, put their dishes in the sink, and headed upstairs to their rooms. Each of them hoped to get more sleep, but knew the odds of that were not very good.


	4. Part 3

Four hours passed by in a blink of an eye. Prue knew that she was wasting her time trying to sleep anymore; she had maybe slept another hour and a half. She was to worried about what her sisters must be feeling, to rest herself. She got out of bed, and after quickly checking on each of her sisters, she headed for the shower.

For the first time in a long time, Prue was actually able to enjoy her morning shower. Normally after no more then five minutes she would hear someone pounding on the door, yelling at the top of their lungs.

"ARE YOU DONE YET? YOU'VE BEEN IN THERE FOREVER!"

She took a little longer then usual, her usual ten minutes extended to twenty. Trying to allow the nice hot water to wash away some of the stress that was bound to be waiting for her just outside that bathroom door. Upon exiting the bathroom, feeling more refreshed and relaxed, she met Piper in the hall as she was exiting her bedroom.

"How you feeling Piper? Did you sleep at all?"

"Some. It's just a lot to think about. Not to mention, I'm a little worried about Phoebe. She looked so stressed out."

"I know what you mean. Don't worry, we'll figure it out. She still sleeping?"

"Yea, I just looked in. Covers tossed on the floor and all."

"That's our Phoebe. The more worried she is when she falls asleep, the more stuff we have to pick up off the floor when she wakes up. Why don't you go take your shower? I'm going to get dressed."

"I hope you left enough hot water. You know how much Phoebe hates a cold shower first thing in the morning."

Prue just let out a small giggle as she closed the door to her bedroom. Piper too had to laugh. She knew that after she was done, there wouldn't be much hot water left.

Piper, like Prue lost track of time in the shower, and she too took longer then she was allowed. As she exited the bathroom, she decided to check on Phoebe one more time. As she approached the door, she truly hoped that her baby sister was still fast asleep. Piper knew that first and foremost, Phoebe needed the sleep. Piper and Prue both knew that when it came to Phoebe's premonitions, there would be no more resting until an answer was found.

Piper also figured by the time Phoebe got up, there might be a little more hot water. Quietly opening the door, Piper inched her head inside the room. She let out a sigh of frustration when she found Phoebe wide-awake, laying in her bed staring at the ceiling.

"Pheebs you ok?"

"Yea, I'm fine. Just thinking?"

Piper walked into the room stopped to pick the blanket up off the floor threw it on the bed, and took a seat. Phoebe sat up and locked eyes with her sister. Piper could always read Phoebe, even as a child, but this was different. Phoebe looked like the whole world was on her shoulders.

"About Grams?"

"No, yes, I don't know. I'm thinking about everything. Like who was the lady? Why did she choose me? And why now?"

"I don't know Pheebs, but we all know everything happens for a reason. We'll figure it out."

"I know I just hope we figure it out sooner rather then later. I don't know why but this feels really important."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, it's just a feeling too hard to explain yet."

Phoebe said as she jumped off the bed, walked over to her closet, grabbed her bathrobe, and headed toward the door. As if coming out of daze, Piper realized where Phoebe was heading and jumped off the bed. Standing in Phoebe's doorway; she wanted to find a way to stall.

"Where you going?"

"I don't know. Thought I would take a shower. Crazy thought I guess."

"Well I just thought that maybe you were to tired to take a shower. You know you look like you could use some more sleep."

"Well Piper you see, besides getting clean, part of the reason people take a shower in the morning is to help to wake up. Now move out of the way. I want to get to work on those letters so we can figure out what kind of demon we are up against."

"What makes you think it's a demon?"

"When's the last time I got a premonition that didn't involve a demon. Now for the last time move!"

"Oh, right sorry. I guess I'll see you downstairs."

Piper moved out of the way, allowing Phoebe to make her way into the bathroom. Piper simply stood in the hallway and listened to the bathroom door being closed, followed closely by the water being turned on.

Prue decided it was a good time to check on her sisters. She knew that Piper didn't usually take her time when it came to getting going in the morning. Prue stopped at the top of the stairs when she noticed Piper staring at the bathroom door.

"Piper? What are you doing? What's wrong?"

"Just wait for it….3.….2.…1.…"

"OH MY GOD….I'M GOING TO KILL YOU GUYS!"

They both hear Phoebe scream, and Prue didn't need to ask any more questions, she turned on her heals and headed straight downstairs. Piper looked over her shoulder expecting to see Prue still standing there. When she saw she was gone, she followed suit, running into her bedroom to get dressed as fast as possible.


	5. Part 4

About a half an hour later, Phoebe came down the stairs, fully dressed and towel drying her hair.

"Thanks a lot you guys. That's all I needed today was a freezing cold shower. What are you guys doing?"

"Sorry Pheebs. We tried to wait for you, but our curiosity got the better of us."

"That's alright I guess. If I had been the first one up, which next time I will, I would have done the same thing. Did you guys actually find anything?"

"Nothing at first. Just lots of letters about life on the road, and stuff like that. They weren't telling us anything about Paul, or his wife. Then it dawned on us that maybe the family history would."

"But you didn't actually find anything right?"

"Sure we did."

"That can't be. I've read that book cover to cover, I don't know how many times. I would remember him being there."

"Well he's here now. It's not like it's the first time stuff popped up in one of our books."

"Remember Barbas? Mom put that stuff in the book when she knew he was coming. Then she added things as she saw fit."

"You know just when we think we have all the secrets of this family uncovered, poof, more show up."

"Thanks a lot Grams. Since when are we detectives?"

Piper looked up to the sky. She knew her Grams could hear ever word she said. She also knew that she wouldn't appear unless she was summoned.

"You know maybe we should just summon Grams."

"Not yet Piper. Besides summoning her doesn't mean she'll tell us anything. We just need to figure it out for ourselves. Give me the book."

Phoebe poured herself a cup a coffee, then joined her sisters at the kitchen table. Prue placed the old book in front of Phoebe, allowing Phoebe to read aloud.

PAUL ANTHONY HALLIWELL

Oldest child of Penny and Allen Halliwell, also the first male witch to be born in the Warren line. He possessed the power of mind jumping and mind speaking. Unlike mind control, this gave him the ability to jump into peoples minds, speak to them, and for him to hear what they had to say, rather then what they were thinking.

Since the Wiccan line had always run through the women in the family, his powers were never very strong. His powers grew at a very slow pace. After his father died Paul did everything he could to make his powers stronger so he could protect his Mother and his little sister Patty. He tried everything including using potions, with little to no success.

After failing to get his mother help to become stronger, and feeling bitter that his mother devoted most of her time and energy helping his younger sister Patty learn the ways of a witch, at the age of 18 he left home, not even leaving a note behind to say goodbye.

He searched for many months trying to join every group or coven he could to increase his strength, he finally found a group willing to let him join. After only a few month of taking their lessons, he was beginning to feel that he would finally be worthy of being a Halliwell, he used his power to link with his family, and received many warning from his mother to walk away. When he decided not to follow her advice he blocked him from not only her mind but from her sisters as well.

Paul decided at that time he would never let anyone know his true family heritage. He would lie about his past and use his ability to make sure people would believe him. After almost a year with the group Paul started to became suspicious, and began to look into the groups work even more. He discovered that the group were actually made up of demons known to the rest of the magical world as the Controllers. Paul discovered that the demons goal was put natural born witches under their control. Of course joining members knew nothing of their leader's plans, but were simply told they would help their powers to grow to help the world.

Paul decided to learn what he could from these people, so that he could take his new advanced power back to his home and help protect his family, namely his little sister Patty. The leaders would often ask about his family history, and where he got his powers from. Never wanted to have them involved, he would lie, and say that his parents were dead, and he didn't know much about them. They accepted this from him and allowed him to stay.

Paul spent many years in the group, but never took the final steps that would put him under their control. He convinced the leaders that he could be very useful in other ways, and he was allowed to stay to recruit new members, and work the finances. One day he met a new member of the group who he fell deeply in love with, and together they found the strength to leave the group. They realized the dangers that they were in, and knew they could never fully be together while in the group. They ran for many years before settling down, and starting a family of their own.

Phoebe turned the page of the old book expecting to read more. When she saw there was nothing there, she slammed the book closed in frustration.

"What? That's it? Where is the rest?"

"I don't think Grams had the chance to finish Paul's story. We know that he did get married to Sarah, and they had at least one child."

"How do you know that?"

"We think that where the book leaves off, the letters pick up. Read this."

Dear Mom,

I just wanted you to know that on February 26, 1987 Sarah gave birth to your newest granddaughter. You wouldn't believe how much she reminds me of Patty. She has your eyes, and Patty's smile.

We named her Nancy, sorry mom, I know what your thinking, but we needed to break the 'P' names sometime. She has become the one real pleasure in our lives.

I will write more later.

Love Always,

Paul and Family  
P.S.

How are the girls doing? Please let me know if you need anything, I will try and send you what I can.

"That means that Grams must have written him, he knew about us."

"Yea, we know. This letter was written 5 years later."

Dear Grandma,  
I LOVE YOU LOTS AND LOTS  
Love your Granddaughter,  
Nancy

Hi Mom,

Nancy is so smart. The teachers say that she has an IQ of over 200, and will probably be out of college by the time she is 16. We don't want her to grow up to fast, so we decided to wait on sending her to school. We are letting her finish her one year of preschool, then we'll keep her home for a while. They don't know where to put her anyway.

Even though she has never met you, she knows all about you, and is always asking when we can write grandma again. She is so proud to be a witch, and is totally excited to know that the Charmed ones are her cousins. Sarah and I are just happy to finally discover what her power is. She has my power, only more advanced. She can leap into people's dreams, and pull us into hers. Last night, she was having a nightmare and was scared, so she pulled me into her dream. She said she needed me to keep her safe. At least some of the dreams we have had since Nancy was born make sense now.

Well I have to go and get ready for work. Yes mom can you believe it. I finally have a full time job, and it never felt so good. Sarah says hi, and is really starting to push for us to see each other. Maybe this summer. Who knows.

Love Always,

Paul and Family

P.S.  
I have included Nancy's school picture. Thank goodness she isn't as devilish as Patty was, then again right now Nancy is an only child. Give us time.

"Where's the picture?"

"Right here."

Prue handed the picture to Phoebe, and watched as Phoebe starred at it.

"She looks like you when you were young Pheebs."

"She does. Really?"

"Yea. People always used to say that you were a dead ringer for mom when we were kids. You might not remember, but Grams used to slip all the time and call you Patty. I asked her why once, and she said you reminded her so much of Mom. Even with how you used to get into trouble."

"Now I remember. I wonder what Nancy…..HUH…"

For the second time today, Phoebe was pulled from her own thoughts, and shoved into the black and white world of a premonitions, that threw pictures in her mind.

She came out of her premonition in sheer terror. Her stomach began to turn as she tried to force words out of her mouth. Her hands began to shake, and her lower lip quivered. Seeing the stress on Phoebe's face, Prue told Piper to get some water, as she kneeled in front of Phoebe taking hold of her hands and speaking in a soft and calm voice.

"It's alright Pheebs take your time. Drink some of this water. Just relax."

Piper handed Prue the water and then sat back down in the chair next to her baby sister. She watched as Phoebe tried to calm down so that she could tell them what she had saw.

"Good, now can you tell us what you saw?"

Taking a deep breath, she placed the glass of water back on the table, and took a hold of Prue's hands one more time. She almost felt like she had to draw some strength out of Prue in order to put her thoughts into words.

"I saw, I would assume it was Sarah and Paul, they were being killed. I'm pretty sure it already happened."

"How do you know?"

"I don't know, I just do."

"What about Nancy? Did you see her?"

"Sort of, she was like a shadow, or a form, but she looked pretty close to this picture, maybe a few years older."

"A form?"

"Yea, it's a little hard to explain. She was like a hologram or something, but I saw her disappear."

"Disappear, like killed?"

"No I'm pretty sure she got away."

"So where is she?"

"I don't know, but she's all alone guys, she has no on to help her. You know it's bad enough that Warren witches have to lose their mothers at a young age, but why fathers too. I don't understand."

"Phoebe calm down we don't know for sure that it already happened."

"Yes we do Prue. Look."

Piper handed Prue the family tree. Like the words in the Family History, dates appeared next to Sarah and Paul's names. They held their breath and waited to see if another date appeared next to Nancy's name, but it never did.

"We have to find her."

"How Pheebs? We don't even know where she is. None of these letters have a return address. Grams probably had it memorized, and threw it away so no one could find it."

Piper was trying to be the voice of reason, but she knew that it wasn't coming out the right way. She could see the wheels of thought rolling in Phoebe's mind.

"Maybe, if I concentrate hard enough on this picture, I can force a premonition, and find out where she is, or at least see if she's alright."

Prue and Piper both knew that Phoebe was emotionally and physically drained, but knew that trying to reason with Phoebe right now wouldn't be the best idea. Phoebe was a Halliwell after all, and had stubbornness was a family trait they all had.


	6. Part 5

For the better part of the rest of the day, they watched as Phoebe focused all her remaining energy concentrating on the picture. While they all hoped that a premonition would pop into Phoebe's head, and show that Nancy was not just alive, but safe, happy and healthy. Prue and Piper knew the odds of that were very slim.

As night drew closer, Phoebe tried harder and harder, with no success. She eventually gave in to her sister's demands, to get some sleep, and try again in the morning. Prue and Piper tucked their exhausted baby sister into bed, kissed her goodnight, and turned in for the night themselves.

Well past 1:00 in the morning Phoebe became restless again. She began to toss and turn even worst then the night before, eventually waking up screaming at the top of her lungs.

Hearing the screams, Prue and Piper each woke up from dead sleeps. Fearing the worst, they each fell out of their beds trying to get up, and find out what was happening. They reached the hallway almost at the same time, looked at each other confused, and then sprinted to Phoebe's door. Throwing the door open, at first they saw nothing. Phoebe wasn't in her bed, and all the blankets were thrown on the floor.

As they entered the room, with extreme caution, they heard soft whimpers and sobs coming from somewhere. Prue clicked on the light and looked around the room. To her surprise they found Phoebe sitting in the corner with her knees pulled up to her chest, her face hidden in her knees, and she was crying softly.

"Phoebe honey. What's wrong? What happened?"

Prue asked as she and Piper approached her slowly so to not scare her anymore then she already was. Receiving no response, the two older sisters bent down in front of their baby sister to try to comfort her, and ease her pain.

When Prue first sat down on the floor Phoebe flinched with freight.

"DON'T TOUCH ME..."

She screamed as she pushed her body harder against the wall. Prue was shocked by her reaction at first, and took a moment to compose herself. She had to go slow, she had never seen Phoebe so scared in her entire life. Prue simply sat in front of Phoebe, crossed her legs, and folded her hands into her own lap.

Piper took a step closer and Phoebe flinched again. Piper stopped dead in her tracks, wanting to be closer but not wanting to scare Phoebe further she followed Prue's lead and waited for Phoebe to make the first move.

After several minutes Phoebe lifted her head from her knees and realized that Prue was sitting quietly right in front of her. Although Phoebe continued to say nothing, Phoebe leaned forward placing her head in Prue's lap. Prue looked over to Piper, hoping she would know what to say. Piper was always better with emotions, she always knew the right thing to say to calm Phoebe down. She knew she would get no answers from her when she saw tears of fear rolling down Pipers cheek.

Prue reached her hand out toward Piper who quickly took it and sat down next to Prue.

"Prue, I'm scared. What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know. I'm scared too, but we have to stay calm, for Phoebe."

Turning her attention back to Phoebe, Prue placed her hand softly and slowly on Phoebe's back. At first Phoebe jumped and her body tensed up, but soon she began to relax as she recognized Prue's touch. Prue started to rub Phoebe's back in small circles as she had done so many times when they were younger. Prue decided not to push for information right away, but to first get Phoebe to calm down.

"Phoebe, I want you to listen to me ok. Your safe. Piper and I are here, and nothing is going to happen to you. I want you to close your eyes and listen to the sound of my voice. Feel my hand on your back, and hear the calm in my voice. Now take a deep breath, then let it out. Then take another, and let it out."

As Prue continued to talk she could feel Phoebe's body begin to relax. Phoebe's breathing was becoming nice and calm, and when Prue was sure it was safe she took it a step further.

"Good Phoebe, your doing great. Now I want you to take your time. Can you tell us what happened?"

Phoebe took another deep breath and let it out slowly. She once again closed her eyes, and not even bothering to lift her head from Prue's lap she began to explain.

"A man was trying to do some things to me."

"Things?"

"Don't make me explain, just things. Anyway, I was putting up a fight, he gave up and walked away. Then another man came in and started to beat me up. He was slapping me, and kicking me, he wouldn't stop."

"Was it a demon?"

"No, but he certainly was a monster. It's strange though, at a certain point I looked in a mirror, and I could see Nancy."

"Nancy? She was there?"

"No, I mean I saw myself, but I was her."

"Can you elaborate a little for us?"

"I don't know how else to explain it. I was Nancy. When I opened my eyes I could still feel the pain, and fear, I still can."

"This has happened to you before. Remember?"

"No."

"When you were connected to the Succubus demon. You felt everything she felt as if she was you. I think somehow you must be connected to Nancy."

"If that's true, given what I am feeling, and what I could see we need to find her right now.

"But how do we find her, I mean you don't know where she is do you."

"I don't know why, but I fell like she in L.A. I just don't know where."

"How do you know?"

"I just do Piper. I can feel it. You have to trust me."

"Don't worry Phoebe, we trust you. Here Piper take her."

Prue handed her baby sister off to Piper, and Phoebe accepted Piper's open arms. As Phoebe allowed her body to relax once again Prue got up off the floor and went in the hallway to get the phone.

By the time she returned to the bedroom Piper had gotten Phoebe off the floor and they were both laying on the bed in silence. Phoebe had her head on Pipers shoulder, her eyes closed, Pipers arms wrapped tight around Phoebe making her feel safe.

"There are no flights leaving for L.A. till tomorrow afternoon, so here are the choices, we can driver and get there in about 8 hours from the time we leave, or we can sleep a little longer, get up deal with the airport security and probably get there in the same amount of time it would take to drive.

"Prue what about work? You can't just leave."

"This is more important. It's a little after two now. I think if we pack some cloths now, we can sleep till about 8 then get on the road. We'll get to L.A. between 7 and 9 traffic pending."

"Prue I can't sleep anymore. I'm scared. I know it's really stupid, I mean with all the demons and warlocks we've faced I shouldn't be scared like this, but I can't help it. I am."

"It's not stupid Pheebs. I tell you what, you can come and sleep in my room, even though I won't get much sleep."

"Why not?"

Prue had to smile at the puzzled look on her sister's face.

"Well Phoebe, face it, people don't like sharing a bed with you because well, there's no nice way to say this, but you kick."

"I do not. Do I Piper?"

"Sorry Pheebs she's right, you do. Why do you think whenever we went on vacations, you always got your own bed?"

"I just thought you guys wanted to stay up all night and talk about boys."

"Well that too, but we didn't want to be kicked all night either."

After trying to give a look of hurt to Prue and Piper, Phoebe couldn't hold it any longer and the three ladies began to laugh for the first time all day. Prue pulled her sisters out of the bed gave them each a hug before they each started to fill some bags with cloths to get ready for their unexpected trip.

Piper decided to join them in Prue's room. Phoebe was very happy, she was going to be able to get a few hours of sleep in-between the safe and comfortable embrace of her two older sisters.


	7. Part 6

When the alarm went off at 7am, the three girls bolted out of bed, washed up, threw cloths in a bag, and were out the door by 8:30. Prue and Piper were in the front seat, while Phoebe was able to spread out in the back.

"So how are we going to find her once we get there?"

Piper was trying to make small talk. The girls had done many road trips growing up and knew that driving in silence would never last very long.

"With these."

Phoebe reached into her backpack and pulled out the photo of Nancy, and a few of the letters Paul had written to Grams.

"Hopefully between being in L.A., and these things, not to mention the connections, I will be able to link up long enough to find out where she is."

"Can you still feel the connection now?"

"Sort of. I'm not sure it's hard for me to tell if I am feeling my own feelings or hers. I just hope we're not to late."

"I checked the family tree before we left, and there still isn't another date added to Nancy's name."

"That's not what I meant. Last night I could feel Nancy's emotions. She was emotionally drained, and I could tell that she was not fighting back as much as I would have. She was almost giving in."

"Don't worry, we'll find her."

Prue looked from Piper to Phoebe, then back to Piper. Both of them noticed how in one day Phoebe looked like she had aged ten years. Her eye's looked so tired, and she had worry lines all over her face. They had debated on weather to talk to Phoebe about it, and they knew that now was as good a time as any.

Prue knew that Piper was always better at getting their sister to open up. Giving Piper's hand a squeeze, Piper knew that was her signal to go ahead. Taking a deep breath she asked the question that had bothering them every since they had found out about Nancy.

"Phoebe, last night you said that a man was trying to do 'things', what 'things'"

Phoebe looked out the window she didn't want to make eye contact with Piper she knew this question would be asked eventually, but that didn't make answering it any easier.

"Things that no adult should ever do with a child."

Piper looked at Prue who gave a quick glance at Phoebe thru her rear view window. Biting her tongue hoping to not have to ask any further questions, she prayed Phoebe would just give answers without probing.

"The guy that was doing the hitting, he was saying something about costing him money, and how I, or she should have just gone along with it."

"Do you think it's happened before?"

"I don't know, it's hard to tell it's not like I've ever gone thru something like that before. I have no reference to go off of. "

"What is your gut telling you?"

"My gut says the hitting isn't new, she's gone thru it before, but the other stuff I think that was new. You know when Mom died, it was really hard, but I was so young and didn't understand a lot about what was going on, but I never felt alone, I had you guys and Grams of course. When I finally did understand that Mom wasn't coming back, I was sad of course, but I wasn't scared about what would happen to me."

"We all felt that way."

"I know, but I used to think that our lives were so hard, and that nobody could ever understand what I was feeling. I know that people have it a lot worst then us, but this is family. Nancy has nobody to help her feel safe, or make her feel loved. I need to be there for her, like Grams and you guys were there for me."

"I think we understand Pheebs. Don't worry, we'll find her no matter how long it takes. We will remind her what it's like to be loved, and part of a family."

Phoebe seemed to calm down a little after opening up. It always helped her to say what was on her mind. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep for a little bit, since she knew she wouldn't sleep again until Nancy was safe and in their arms.


	8. Part 7

The drive to L.A. was long and tiresome. Prue and Piper traded off half way thru the trip and Prue started making calls to find a hotel to stay at. When they arrived they checked in and tried to get some sleep for the night knowing that they would have a lot of work to do the next day.

During the course of the night Phoebe had a lot of trouble sleeping, often waking up feeling more tired then when she went to sleep. When morning came they decided to have some breakfast before heading out to find Nancy.

Prue headed downstairs getting some coffee and donuts from the continental breakfast that the hotel had available. They each took turns taking showers and getting ready for the day.

Phoebe as usual drew the short straw and went into the bathroom last. After her shower, Phoebe wrapped a towel around her body and stood in front of the mirror brushing her short brown hair, she began to feel light headed, but tried her best to shrug it off. Lifting her face she looked in the mirror. She knew she needed to put some makeup on, her eyes were so dark and looked sunken in. Pulling out her makeup bag she started to apply some eyeliner, when she dropped the pen grabbing hold of the sink. She could feel the room begin to spin, as she fell to the ground landing on the cold tile with a loud thud.

Prue and Piper had just finished putting on their shoes when they heard a loud noise come from the bathroom. Getting up from the bed they ran over to the door and knocked.

"Pheebs you alright in there?"

They waited for a response, but could hear none. Prue pushed her ear to the door and could hear Phoebe groaning on the other side.

"She's in trouble. Back up Piper!"

Raising her hand she forced the locked door open and entered the bathroom. They could clearly see that she was conscious, but was having trouble forming words.

"Take your time Phoebe, we're right here."

Moments later, and with her eye's still closed she found the strength to tell her sisters what was happening.

"It's Nancy. I'm connected again."

"Can you see where she is?"

"She's in a cab. The man who was hitting her the other night is sitting right next to her."

"Phoebe try to look around. Do you see any street signs, or landmarks?"

"No. She's just looking at the floor. Wait, the cab just stopped. She's so scared. She doesn't want to get out of the cab. I think she knows something is going to happen if she goes inside."

"This connections is really strong."

"Quiet Piper."

"Phoebe when she gets out she'll have to look up. Just focus. Remember when you helped me with the Succubus demon. You forced her to say and do what you wanted. Try to force Nancy to look around."

Phoebe concentrated with all her energy. It took every once of strength she had to not just go along with Nancy. She felt as if Nancy was trying to push her out of the connection, but it wasn't working.

"Alright, here we go. Their in front of a apartment. The address says 1974 Sycamore Lane."

"Great. Piper maybe you should stay with Phoebe. I'll go alone."

"No way Prue. Piper get my cloths. You guys just need to help me a little. The connection isn't breaking."

"No problem little sis, just hold onto us. We'll take care of you."

Piper grabbed a shirt and a pair of jeans from Phoebe's bag. After helping Phoebe to get dressed Prue and Piper each grabbed a hold of Phoebe and slowly helped her to stand. Sensing that Phoebe was shaky and uneasy, Prue helped her baby sister find her balance while Piper helped to support her body.

As Phoebe gained a little more balance, Prue put one of Phoebe's arms around her neck, while Piper did the same on the other side. When Prue got closer to Phoebe she could feel heat radiating from Phoebe's body. She gently placed a hand on Phoebe's forehead and immediately felt not only heat, but a great deal of sweat forming on Phoebe's forehead.

"Pheebs, your burning up. Do you feel alright?"

"Yes and no. Remember I feel what Nancy feels. Right now I think she's sick. We need to hurry guys. I feel like giving up, which means she's giving up. I don't want the connection to break till we get there."

"Alright let's go."

They quickly but carefully got Phoebe to the car, laying her down in the backseat. Prue and Piper jumped in the front and with Piper's navigations they were outside the apartment in no time. Arriving at the apartment Prue and Piper helped Phoebe out of the car. They expected her to still be shaky, but found that she could stand on her own with little to no problem.

Phoebe noticed that her body temperature was slowly dropping back to normal. It was as if the connection began to break as soon as they pulled up to the apartment. By the time they reached the front steps Phoebe had full control of her body again, and could no longer see through Nancy's eyes. As they slowly made their way up the stairs they could hear a child scream, and they quickened their pace running to the door. Knowing that there was no time for subtlety, and not caring who saw her, Prue broke down the door with her power.

As they ran inside they immediately noticed the scent of garbage, beer, and cigarettes in the air. Not really stopping to take in their surroundings they rushed inside following the whimpering sound of a child, and the loud, angry voice of an adult. Rounding a corner their eyes grew wide with a mixture of fear and anger, for in the middle of the room was a young girl lying on the floor with blood running down her face, and a large cut on her arm. Above her stood a middle-aged man, his arm raised up high in the air, belt in hand, obviously drunk and ready to strike again.


End file.
